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Star Trek: Voyager suffered the most from episodic storytelling's "reset button" approach, erasing character development and undermining the impact of the episodes. The earlier Star Trek series used the reset button frequently, but Voyager's attempts to bring it back hurt some of its best episodes. Voyager later recognized the flaws of the reset button and moved towards more serialized character arcs, allowing for more satisfying episodes and a step in the right direction for the franchise.

Out of all series, Star Trek: Voyager suffered the most from episodic Star Trek's "reset button" storytelling style. The "reset button" refers to the opposite of serialized storytelling, where each episode of a series is a contained storyline that must be fully concluded by the end. In the case of the reset button specifically, the episode's story usually gets entirely rewritten so that it never actually happened in the first place, generally by...

In "Twovix," the season 4 premiere of Star Trek: Lower Decks, Ensigns Boimler, Mariner, and Rutherford assist in piloting the USS Voyager, but encounter various obstacles along the way. Captain Freeman deals with a Tuvix problem on the USS Cerritos after the transportation of Tuvix orchids, leading to a chaotic situation that requires a solution from Ensign Tendi and Provisional Ensign T'Lyn. The Clown, Doctor Chaotica, and Michael Sullivan, three holographic villains from Star Trek: Voyager, return in the episode to cause trouble on the USS Voyager before being defeated by the Lower Deckers.

Warning: Contains Spoilers for Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 1, "Twovix".Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 premiered with "Twovix", an affectionate and hilarious tribute to Star Trek: Voyager that featured the return of some memorable holodeck villains. On a mission that could bag them a promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade, Ensigns Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), Beckett Mariner...

Ensign Harry Kim's lack of promotion on the USS Voyager is humorously highlighted in "Twovix," the latest episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks. Boimler and Mariner quickly earn promotions that eluded Harry Kim throughout his seven-year tenure on Voyager. The episode underscores the irony that Harry Kim, despite his accomplishments, never advanced in rank while Boimler and Mariner achieve promotions in a short amount of time.

Warning: Contains Spoilers for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, Episode 1, "Twovix"Star Trek: Lower Decks' new episode set aboard the USS Voyager is a hilarious insult to the Eternal Ensign, Harry Kim (Garrett Wang). "Twovix" opens with Ensign Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) being tipped for promotion by Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell) as long as he doesn't mess things up in a "historically significant" way. Unluckily for Boimler, he's assigned to the historic USS Voyager, which has been undergoing preservation ahead of a brand-new exhibition on Earth.

Over a month after Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 hosted a well-received crossover episode with the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, Lower Decks Season 4 kicks things off with the two-episode season premiere. The first of these episodes is "Twovix." As its typically cheeky title suggests, it is a lengthy riff on one of the admittedly stranger moments from Star Trek: Voyager. Much of what Lower Decks Season 4 does well is present here, particularly balancing the progression of overarching narratives and character arcs with well-crafted comedy.

After three seasons of successful service on the USS Cerritos, a starship tasked with completing menial and clerical assignments across Starfleet's jurisdiction, junior officers are in line for promotions. Ensign Brad Boimler scrambles to prove himself worthy for advancement up the Starfleet chain of command, and the Cerritos travels on a routine mission to help transport the historically commemorated USS Voyager and a...

Star Trek: Voyager repeated the mistake made in Tng with Deanna Troi, mishandling Kes' character and powers throughout the show. Kes' telepathic abilities were introduced in a similar way to how Troi's powers were initially portrayed, leading to confusion and unanswered questions. Despite initial similarities, Troi became more popular than Kes because she had a defined role and was given more to do in Tng, while Kes struggled to fit in with Voyager's main characters and her powers remained undefined.

Star Trek: Voyager repeated a mistake with Kes (Jennifer Lien) that Star Trek: The Next Generation made with Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis). Kes was first introduced in Voyager's pilot episode when Neelix (Ethan Phillips) enlisted the USS Voyager's help to save her from the Kazon-Ogla. When Voyager set out on its journey home after becoming permanently stranded in the Delta Quadrant, Kes and Neelix requested to stay on the...

The following contains spoilers from Star Trek: Lower Decks, Season 4, Episode 1 "Twovix," now streaming on Paramount+.

After visiting the original Enterprise in the Strange New Worlds crossover episode, the Season 4 premiere of Lower Decks celebrates another Star Trek series. In the episode, the crew is tasked with piloting the USS Voyager first to Earth, where it will land and spend time in orbit before it ends up at the Fleet Museum. While every episode of Lower Decks is heavy with references to other shows, this one is chock-full of Voyager Easter eggs.

Perhaps the most obvious and diligent references are the recreation of the ship and its locations. From the deflector to the nacelles, the animated model of Voyager looks just like the "real thing" seen in the episodes. The real-world crew of Lower Decks painstakingly recreated the sets those characters populated for seven seasons. There's the mess hall, complete...

Voyager's unique circumstances forced the crew to become comfortable with each other quickly, leading to one of the closest-knit crews in Star Trek. "Parallax" established the dynamics of important relationships, such as Harry and Tuvok's contrasting personalities and Kes' treatment of the Doctor. The episode also set up the love triangle between Tom, Kes, and Neelix, as well as the complex relationships between Chakotay and B'Elanna and Janeway and her crew.

Star Trek: Voyager set up a number of important crew relationships as early as its second episode. Although the Star Trek franchise is known for its sci-fi concepts and utopian vision of the future, one of the things that makes each project work so well is the relationship dynamics between the main cast of characters. This is true for every series but seemed to be especially true for Voyager, mainly because of its initial premise and setting.

Voyager revolved...